The coronavirus pandemic has hit the Federal Correctional Institution at Oakdale very hard. The facility has recorded six inmate deaths from the virus. Numerous other inmates and staff members have tested positive for the disease.

This has prompted unprecedented action from the Federal Bureau of Prisons. However, the American Civil Liberties Union believes those actions do not go far enough and they certainly aren't happening fast enough.

The ACLU has filed a temporary restraining order in federal court against the Oakdale facility. The order asks the court to take immediate action to evaluate and release medically vulnerable inmates.

Federal Bureau of Prisons Director M.D. Carvajal addressed those concerns and others in a video that was released yesterday.

The ACLU says that only one inmate has been released but 44 others have been identified as those who could be potentially released.

The FBoP says that the Oakdale facility is aggressively screening inmates who have COVID-19 risk factors. Those factors, as defined and described by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, are being used to evaluate each inmate on a personal basis.

The Bureau of Prisons says that Oakdale is regarded as one of the "hot-spots" for coronavirus in the federal prison system.

 

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